In this file handout photo provided 10 Downing Street on April 2, 2020, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaks during a media briefing on the coronavirus at Downing Street, London. (PIPPA FOWLES / 10 DOWNING STREET VIA AP)
LONDON / NEW YORK / SAO PAULO / CAIRO - UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the new strain of the coronavirus is “out of control” and suggested parts of England will be stuck in the new, highest tier of restrictions until a vaccine is rolled out.
More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home after a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England and the government scrapped plans to relax rules on socializing at Christmas.
More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home after a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England and the government scrapped plans to relax rules on socializing at Christmas
The measures to control the fast-spreading new variant of the virus forbid household mixing in those areas and restrict socializing to just Christmas Day across the rest of England. Residents across the country were told to keep to their local areas, and extra police were being deployed at rail stations to stop people traveling out of London.
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Hancock said that as of Saturday morning 350,000 people had been vaccinated, with the ambition to reach 500,000 by the end of the weekend.
Johnson had originally planned to ease pandemic rules for five days during the holiday, but made an abrupt change of tack after emergency talks on the virus mutation with officials.
“It may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the old variant, the original version of the disease,” Johnson told a news conference.
Emerging scientific evidence suggests the new variant -- which Hancock said has also appeared in Australia and continental Europe -- can spread significantly more quickly than previous strains in circulation and is behind the surge in infections in recent days.
“We made the commitment not knowing that there was going to be a new variant that spreads so much faster,” Hancock said, of the original plans. He said there is “no evidence” that the new strain -- VUI-202012/01 -- is milder than the original virus.
Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead at the World Health Organization, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “We understand that the virus does not cause more severe disease.”
Videos shared on social media showed a dash for trains out of London on Saturday evening.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement that more transport police will be deployed to stop people taking unnecessary journeys out of the capital. Hancock said Shapps is examining compensation payments for canceled tickets.
The number of coronavirus cases in Britain has surpassed 2,000,000 as another 27,052 new cases were confirmed, according to official figures released Saturday.
Global tally
Global coronavirus infections surpassed the 76 million mark on Saturday while the deah toll passed 1.6 million, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University, as several nations around the world begin vaccinating against the virus.
The Netherlands
Netherlands will ban flights carrying passengers from the United Kingdom from Sunday as Britain detected a new coronavirus strain.
A travel ban will remain in place until Jan. 1, the government said in a statement early Sunday, adding that it is monitoring developments and is considering additional measures regarding other modes of transport.
Netherlands added that in early December, sampling of a case in the country had revealed the same virus strain as that found in the UK.
In measures to control the spread of virus, government issued a “do not travel” advisory, unless it is absolutely essential.
US
US distribution of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine began on Saturday, with more than 3,700 sites due to start receiving and administering shots as soon as Monday, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc.
The United States has reported over 400,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, setting a gloomy new world record as the country is preparing distribution of second COVID-19 vaccine to states.
A total of 403,359 new cases and 2,756 deaths were reported across the country on Friday, according to data updated Saturday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A healthcare worker receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at McLeod Health Clarendon Hospitals in Manning, South Carolina, US, on Dec 17, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
The new data brought the seven-day average daily case increase to a record-high of 238,923 cases, and the seven-day average daily death increase to over 2,500.
There are a record 114,751 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to latest data of The COVID Tracking Project.
"17 days into December, this month is already the second deadliest of the pandemic," the project tweeted on Friday.
Over 42,500 deaths were reported with COVID-19 across the nation in December so far, according to the project.
US lawmakers appeared poised to vote on Sunday on a US$900 billion coronavirus aid package after senators struck a late-night compromise to clear one of the final hurdles, a dispute over Federal Reserve pandemic lending authorities.
Spain
Spain is about to kick off its vaccination campaign against COVID-19, the country's health ministry said.
"We do not want to wait a single day, we want the vaccination process to begin as soon as possible," Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told a press conference on Friday.
The first doses of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Spain on Dec. 26 and inoculations will start the following day, he said.
The minister said that each of Spain's 17 regions would receive a fair share of the vaccine, depending on its population and the number of people belonging to priority groups.
Portugal
Portuguese health authorities reported another 86 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, and the country has registered 6,063 fatalities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), there were 3,835 new cases of infection in the last 24 hours, raising Portugal's total number of COVID-19 cases to 370,787, among which 69,910 cases were currently active.
DGS data showed that 2,973 COVID-19 patients were receiving treatment in hospitals, 88 fewer than on Friday. Among all patients, 485 were in intensive care units.
Germany
Germany reported 22,771 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours on Sunday, bringing the national tally to 1,494,009, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The nationwide death toll rose by 409 to 26,049, the data showed.
German Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn said on Thursday that the country expects to start rolling out a vaccine against COVID-19 on Dec. 27, pending approval from the European Medicines Agency.
France
France registered 17,565 new cases on Saturday, with the rolling seven-day average climbing for a fourth day to 13,605 cases, the highest in three weeks. The share of positive tests fell to 5.6 percent from 5.9 percent a day earlier. Deaths linked to the virus increased by 189 to 60,418, health authorities reported.
Greece
Greece reported 901 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national total to 130,485, authorities announced on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the country's death toll from the virus increased by 58 to 4,102, according to the National Public Health Organization.
The country has been under lockdown since Nov. 7, which is scheduled to end in January 2021.
Serbia
On Saturday, Serbia reported 3,888 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 296,528, according to information released by the country's Institute for Public Health.
The country also reported 52 new deaths from the virus, and the total death toll in Serbia reached 2,632, according to the institute.
Austria
Austria has confirmed 2,296 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total to 337,209, according to data published by the Austrian Interior Ministry on Saturday.
To date, the country has reported a total of 5,209 deaths with 300,611 recoveries, said the ministry.
Belgium
Belgium on Sunday registered 2,721 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing its national tally to 623,760, the public health institute Sciensano reported.
It also reported 90 new deaths, taking the country's death toll from the disease to 18,545.
Canada
As of Saturday afternoon, Canada's COVID-19 cases surpassed 500,000, reaching 500,242, with 14,128 deaths, while the vaccine rollout is under way in the country, according to CTV.
The latest 100,000 cases racked up in just 15 days across the country, marking the shortest growth period since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March.
Chile
Chile has administered over 6 million polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19, making the country the first in Latin America, Chilean Minister of Health Enrique Paris said on Saturday.
"We continue to break records for PCR tests and today, with more than 40,000 tests, we have exceeded the goal of 6 million PCR tests in Chile and that puts us in first place in Latin America, which is very good news and reflects the work we have done to contain this pandemic," Paris told reporters.
He explained that 300,000 tests per million inhabitants have been completed, "strengthening the strategy of testing, traceability, and isolation."
Brazil
Brazil's COVID-19 death toll rose to 186,356 on Saturday after 706 more patients died in the past 24 hours, said the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, a total of 50,177 new infections were recorded, bringing the nationwide tally to 7,213,155.
Sao Paulo, the hardest-hit state in the country, has reported 1,384,100 cases and 45,029 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 403,660 cases and 24,454 deaths, the ministry said.
Argentina
Argentina on Saturday reported 5,795 new COVID-19 cases, taking its national case tally to 1,537,169, said the Ministry of Health.
The ministry also reported 91 more deaths from the disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 41,763.
The province of Buenos Aires has the country's most cases of 650,861, followed by the province of Santa Fe with 166,011 infections.
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Ecuador
Ecuador has so far reported 205,920 COVID-19 cases and 9,400 relevant deaths as the country confirmed 917 new cases and four more deaths in the last 24 hours, health authorities reported Saturday.
Ecuador, which detected its first COVID-19 case on Feb. 29, continues to see a steady increase in all 24 provinces, showed the latest report by the Ministry of Public Health.
The city of Quito, with 404 new infections, now sees a total of 67,737 cases, remaining Ecador's epicenter of the pandemic.
The most populated city has observed escalating cases since June, after the easing of quarantine measures to reactivate the economy.
Panama
Panama confirmed 3,274 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing its nationwide tally to 209,584, the Ministry of Health reported.
The country also registered 23 new deaths from the virus, taking its total death count to 3,527.
Mexico
Mexico reported 12,129 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 627 relevant deaths on Saturday, bringing the national caseload to 1,313,675 and death toll to 117,876, said the health ministry.
A total of 971,115 patients have so far recovered from the disease, said the ministry.
According to the Mexican government, the real number of infections is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Colombia
Colombia saw a daily high of COVID-19 infections Saturday with 13,990 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, said health authorities.
The country's case tally now stands at 1,496,062. Meanwhile, 249 more deaths were registered, raising the national death toll to 40,268, according to the latest report of the Health and Social Protection Ministry.
In the capital city Bogota, hospitals are under extreme stress as occupancy rate of intensive care units amounted to 74 percent.
Bolivia
Bolivia's Health Ministry on Saturday night reported 621 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its national caseload to 149,770.
It also reported two more coronavirus-related deaths and 275 new recoveries.
Minister of Economy Marcelo Montenegro said earlier that the government is working on a series of strategies to face another potential outbreak of COVID-19, avoiding measures that would harm economic recovery.
Uganda
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday said the country's second deputy Prime Minister Ali Kirunda Kivejinja died of COVID-19 at a hospital in the capital Kampala.
Addressing his 2021-2026 re-election campaign rally in the western city of Hoima, Museveni said Kivejinja who had been admitted at Mulago National Referral Hospital intensive care unit succumbed to the novel coronavirus.
"It's very sad. Kirunda Kivejinja has died. We have been telling people that this COVID-19 is a killer but people have been joking," said Museveni.
Morocco
Morocco announced 2,833 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country since March 2 to 415,226.
The number of recoveries from the coronavirus in Morocco increased to 375,623 after 2,898 more were added, while the death toll rose by 55 to 6,909, the ministry of health said in a statement.
Niger
Niger on Saturday confirmed 52 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national total to 2,612, said the country's Ministry of Public Health.
Meanwhile, with one new death from the virus reported, the nationwide death toll rose to 86.
In a bid to contain the pandemic, the ministry urged the public to wash hands, wear face masks, and avoid fake news.
South Africa
As the country experiences another wave of coronavirus infections, patients seeking care within Mediclinic hospitals are exceeding previous numbers during the first peak, Gerrit de Villiers, a group general manager said in a statement.
Demand in many intensive care and high care units have reached capacity, the company said. There were 10,939 new virus cases and 254 more deaths in South Africa on Saturday, according to the Health Department.
Nigeria
Nigeria on Saturday confirmed 920 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 77,933, said the country's Center for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, the nationwide death toll from the virus rose to 1,218.
With COVID-19 cases flaring up again in parts of Nigeria, authorities in Lagos, the nation's economic hub, on Friday night announced a ban on large social gatherings like carnivals, concerts and street parties until further notice.
Malawi
Malawi on Saturday confirmed five new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 6,153, said the health ministry.
Meanwhile, as no more deaths from the virus were reported, the national death toll remained at 187.
In a bid to contain the pandemic, the ministry urged the public to maintain social distancing, wash hands, and wear face masks.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe on Saturday confirmed 104 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 12,151, said the country's health ministry.
Meanwhile, two more deaths from the virus were reported, as the national death toll rose to 318.
